Day 36- Kevin D. Grade 2 Student- My Frankenstein!

 

As Halloween approach one must ask- How can we incorporate this into a meaningful activity? Of course, we can through creative writing.

Kevin learned "how to make a great story and have alot of fun with work at school!"

Day 35- Cindy Amirault, Hood School Staff Member

I learned how to implement the methods of shaping and behavioral momentum while working with a student. Working with such a great team allows me to learn new skills and  ask as many questions as I need to so everyone can be successful.

Teamwork- "It is a fact that in the right formation, the lifting power of many wings can achieve twice the distance of any bird flying alone."

Day 34- Alec S. Grade 4 Student Mastery Objectives

During a walk through, I entered a grade 4 classroom and the students were defining the objective for the lesson. I began to think about two quotes from Saphier & Gower: 

"Everything you do is built on knowing what you want to accomplish."

"If you don’t know where you’re going, you can’t get there."

One of our grade 4 students took the time to share the daily objectives from his classroom. 

 

 

Day 33 Claudia Brown, NRHS Got Common Core?

Got Common Core?

If you do, then you are surely prioritizing standards, designing rigorous, content-rich curriculum as well as robust assessments while pondering pre and post…wait…post and pre tests, revisiting performance tasks, unwrapping standards (one at a time, please), checking for understanding, placing data teams everywhere, and building educational fences (and that’s a good thing!)

If you are a teacher, teacher-leader or an administrator, you are probably both overwhelmed and excited about the possibilities opened to you by renowned speaker Larry Ainsworth at today’s conference.  If you are a parent or student, you too may be overwhelmed but might be excited because there is going to be some serious assessing FOR learning and then some assessing OF learning.

Mr. Ainsworth, a national leader in education, offered North Reading’s attendees a day filled with all that is needed to prepare our students for college and careers and encouraged trying the above ideas now while we prepare for the goal of full readiness in 2014-2015.

Need more information??

Check out these sites:  http://www.parcconline.org and www.corestandards.org

Go Fly A Kite? Day 32 Grade 1 Students Zachry D. & Marisa D.

Zachry D & Marisa D. Grade 1

Today during a walk through I observed some of our grade 1 friends learning about the weather. The Teacher asked "which is the best day to fly a kite?" I automatically thought any!

My first grade friends were able to analyze the data on the graph that they had completed to answer "Tuesday."

Zachry and Marissa learned that it is best to fly a kite when "the winds are strong." We learned about the "wind scale" and "temperature" they reported.

We talked about thermometers and Zachry told me when the the red line on the thermometer gets "down low when it gets cold."

Day 32 Sophia L., Sophia P., Nicholas F., Ava R. Grade 2 Art Students

Today I had the opportunity to visit a grade 2 art class. The students were engaged in a hands on lesson where they were challenged to create a scarecrow using various "textures."

The students reported that they  "talked about textures,learned about textures by feeling the rug, our hair and our pants and how to make scarecrows using different materials."

Day 31 Ann Marie Wright Special Education Teacher

Day 30 - Christopher Roofe NRMS Grade 7 Social Studies

Christopher Roofe
NRMS
Grade 7
Social Studies

Today I learned the first steps to flip my classroom.  This is an opportunity for teachers to use available technology in the classroom to develop lessons, but also for students to expand their learning beyond the classroom and cover materials at home.  Videos, blogs, and social media can all be used to drastically change the ideas of schoolwork and homework.  Through the flipped classroom, teachers have an opportunity to create videos of lessons to reach students beyond the classroom that might be struggling or just curious to go further with some material.  Thanks to one of the videos presented today, I already learned that I have been tying my shoes wrong for about thirty years.  It took about four minutes to present the video that another person had created to show an alternative method of thinking about a standard topic that so many people assume they do well.

Day 29 Glen McKay, Principal

Glen McKay, Principal

What Did I Learn Today.

Today was an exciting day. I was able to conduct a walk though in some of the classrooms of our wonderful School.   I attended an Administrative Council meeting with the North Reading Public Schools Administrative Team. Later in the day I was able to conduct a walk through at the Batchelder Elementray School with Mr. Killeen and Mrs. Crosby. We observed many samples of excellent teaching and student learning.  The highlight for me was the discussion on hands on learning opportunities that we offer our children.  I was able to visit the wheat field and observe a great example of family engagement by Mr. Cassell. 

Upon my return to the school I was able to have a hall wall conversation with a staff member about technology and return to my office. This was a full 10 minutes prior to our dismissal. That is when our fire alarm went off and I learned the greatest lesson of all.

The lesson:  Working Together We Will Succeed!

Let's note that as an administrator this is the worst possible time for this to happen. However, you are happy that it happens because this scenario ensures that everyone is safe. The parents are waiting in the dismissal line, the traffic is backed up and the fire truck is blocking the buses. Lastly, the weather was quite brisk and the students and staff are outside without jackets. I thought "oh my isn't this the perfect storm?"

As the leader of the building I could not have been more proud of our school staffs response to this event.  The staff quickly accounted for student safety and began to problem solve. We had staff members offering to direct traffic, work with students that were experiencing difficulties and checking in on one another in a supportive way. It was a joy to see everyone working together during this anxiety provoking situation. Upon the return into the building the staff sprang into action! The theory of many hands make work light rang true.  We had staff members opening doors, manning the phones and escorting students to where they needed to be.

Thank You to the best staff around you are amazing daily but sometimes events like this happen and you are provided an opportunity to display your collective commitment to one another and our school. You did this today and I was so proud. 

Day 28 Katie G. & Karisa B. Grade 2

We learned about coins and money. We learned how to count them, write them down, how to put them in order and how to add them.

We got use the Smartboard to count the coins. We added coins to a pink piggy bank.

It was fun.

Day 27 JoAnne Coughlin- NRPS Technology Specialist

Today I learned how to use the Scribble Press app on my iPad. Scribble Press is a free app that allows me to write, illustrate and share my own stories. It's really cool. I want to show other teachers, who are part of the iPad Pilot Program, how to use this app so they can share it with their students.

Day 26 Alyssa D. & Maddie D. Grade 3 Students

Mr. McKay was our mystery reader today. He read A Fine, Fine School by Sharon Creech to us.

We learned that you can learn outside of school. You can learn how to skip a rock, how to play different instruments, how to hang upside down and how to play sports.

The message- "learning takes place inside and outside of school."

Day 25 Mrs. Vercammen, Teacher

Today, I began to read The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein and found this quote: 

“And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high."

-Ayrton Senna

I learned today that the Hood School will fly high!

Ayrton Senna was a Formula One racer. Senna quickly moved up in the sport, moving up through the ranks of karting to open wheel racing. He and teammate Alain Prost won every race except one in 1988, giving Senna his first world title. He was regarded as the greatest driver in the history of the sport, holding the record of six wins at Monaco.